


Bro.

by PastelMess



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe- No Band, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Josh still plays drums in a band, M/M, Sexy Times, Tyler is an English teacher, awkward!Tyler, from punk to hunk, heh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-16 09:16:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11825679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PastelMess/pseuds/PastelMess
Summary: Tyler moves to Los Angeles, where he discovers his next door neighbor has gone from punk to hunk, and oh nooooo he's falling for him.





	1. Surf's Up, Bro

**Author's Note:**

> Heeeeeeyyyy here I am with... this.
> 
> This is the byproduct of me playing too much Dream Daddy, a Dad Dating Simulator, which I love a lot and inspired me to write this. (Craig is obviously the superior Daddy.)
> 
> Anywho, there will be three parts total, so without further ado, here's part one.
> 
>  
> 
> [Russian translation](https://ficbook.net/readfic/5898887)

When Tyler moved to Los Angeles, he expected it to be hard to make friends. Hard, because Tyler was not a social person, nor did he really want to get out and make friends. He was perfectly okay with living out the rest of his days in his cozy apartment, only leaving for work and food.

Don't get him wrong though, where he used to live, Tyler had a ton of friends. He just didn't want to put forth the effort to do that all again, especially because now he was living in a completely different city. So until someone put forth the effort to befriend him, Tyler would sit silently in the comfort of his living room.

It turned out, Tyler really didn’t need to try all that hard, because his next door neighbor ended up being an old friend from high school. They had first reunited at their mailboxes at the end of the hall, where Tyler was trying his hardest to avoid eye contact with his snapback-wearing neighbor. It was a little strange to him that his neighbor seemed to  _ always  _ be wearing hats, but maybe he just wanted to be hidden from the rest of the world. Tyler didn’t blame him. He enjoyed hiding too, obviously.

“Bro!”

Tyler looked up at his neighbor, right his familiar face. “Josh?”

“Tyler!”

He couldn’t believe it. Josh Dun, the high school emo, the weird kid with long hair that seemed to always keep to himself, was his next door neighbor, and he was  _ ripped. _

Tyler kept staring. Josh had an entire tattoo sleeve now, with bright, twisting colors, and  _ gauges,  _ and a  _ frickin nose ring,  _ and his teeth were so  _ straight-- _

They really hadn’t talked all that much in high school, because Josh was a grade above him, and they only had a couple classes together. They only hung out outside of school to work on projects or when they went to “social get togethers” (AKA, parties Tyler was forced to attend by his friend Mark). Besides that, Tyler didn’t know anything about Josh Dun.

But  _ Jesus,  _ Josh Dun was  _ hot  _ now.

Tyler self consciously pulled on the sleeves of his hoodie and pushed his lips over his crooked teeth. He really hadn’t changed at all since high school. He was still lanky, skinny, and weak. He had tattoos of his own, but they felt silly compared to Josh’s.

“How the hell have you been, man?” Josh reached out to do that half-handshake-half-hug thing that “bros” do, and Tyler awkwardly reciprocated. He shoved his hands back into his pockets.

“I’ve been good, how about you?”

“I’m great, dude. Did you just move in?”

“Uh, yeah, actually. How long have you lived in LA?”

“Couple years. I play drums in a band now, so.” He grinned. “Gotta have close access to the studio and stuff.”

“Oh.” Tyler blinked. He remembered Josh had played percussion in marching band. “That’s really cool.”

“Yeah, right? What about you? You look good, dude.”

Tyler chuckled nervously. “I uh, got a teaching job. For English.” After a few seconds, he added, “You look good too. Definitely have changed since high school.”

Josh’s grin grew bigger. “Thanks, bro. I work out a crap ton now. I also love surfing and skating and stuff.”

A surfer. Josh Dun was a surfer. Tyler nodded his head rapidly for some reason. “Wow. Wow. That’s awesome.”

“And a teacher, huh? That’s so cool! What grade?”

“High schoolers. Not sure what classes I’m teaching yet, I actually have to go up there soon for a look around before we start for the year.”

“Sick, bro, well, the band is on hiatus, so we should totally hang out before the summer is over!” He let out a loud laugh. “It’s high school all over again. But no, seriously bro, we should hang, get together and talk about what’s up! It’s been like what, almost ten years since we last saw each other? We’ve got a lot to chat about!”

“Uhm,” Tyler blinked, “yeah, yeah! That sounds like... fun.”

“Sweet, well bro, I gotta run, see you later?” He tucked his mail under his arm and pointed at Tyler as he began backing away.

“Er, yeah,” Tyler tried to wave goodbye, but ended up sending his mail scattering across the floor. With a sigh, he bent down to pick it up, but not before he stole a glance at Josh’s butt--

Goddamn. Even his butt looked good.

Tyler tried to figure out how this could have happened the rest of the day. In high school, Josh was known as a stoner. His hair was long and greasy, he was always wearing black, he had a freaking  _ lip ring _ for God’s sakes, and he had braces-- how on Earth did he go from that to looking like he walked straight out of a Build-A-Boyfriend?

Talk about a glow up.

After a quick nap and a small snack, Tyler cracked open his laptop and got to work internet stalking. He typed in Josh’s name to discover a plethora of pictures; it turned out this “little band” Josh played in was not so little. The band had a Facebook page, which he clicked on and began sifting through pictures. Josh had dyed his hair practically every color of the rainbow and looked better with each passing photo; he definitely had put effort into putting on muscle and getting fit. It really had paid off, because  _ holy smokes _ was he hot.

Tyler was intimidated. Josh wanted to  _ hang out with him? _ Josh wanted to  _ catch up? _ Why would he want to do that?

What would they even do anyways? Would Josh want to use him as a weight? Crush him between his thighs? Drag him through the depths of hell?

Okay, probably not, but Tyler was still confused. Josh was hot now, and Tyler was... not.

With a sigh, Tyler set his laptop to the side and turned on the television to some home improvement show to use as background noise. He then settled back down on the sofa to flip through the same three apps he usually did: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There really wasn’t anything going on, and nothing Tyler really cared for; just a bunch of people going on vacations and having a blast. You know, stuff Tyler himself wasn’t exactly doing.

His family had gone on a vacation earlier in the summer before he had moved. They had gone up to Michigan for two weeks. Don’t get him wrong, it had been fun, but being forced to spend time with his family gave him flashbacks to his childhood. Zack and Jay were still exactly the same: annoying and competitive. Maddy was quiet and kept to herself, mostly spending time with her husband and Zack’s wife, Tatum. Tyler also had to deal with his mother’s constant pestering of “when are you going to get a girlfriend, Tyler? When are you going to get married, Tyler? You’re the oldest, Tyler, shouldn’t you be thinking about having children soon?”

It was true that Tyler was almost thirty years old and probably should be married now, according to society’s standards, but he really hadn’t found that special someone yet. It also didn’t help that Tyler was extremely awkward and found it very hard to talk to people, which made dating a bit... uncomfortable.

His phone buzzed, snapping him out of his thoughts, and he looked down to see a text message from an unknown number.

 

_ Hey bro-- this is Josh! From next door! _

 

Tyler squinted. How did Josh get his phone number? He still couldn’t believe this was happening. With a shake of his head, he typed back a reply.

 

_ Hey dude. How’d you get my number? _

 

Josh sent back an unhealthy amount of emojis, ones Tyler didn’t even know existed. He wasn’t exactly sure if Josh was doing it ironically or not.

His phone buzzed again.

 

_ It’s on your facebook, dude. We’re still friends on there, isn’t that hilarious? _

 

_ Anyways, I was wondering if you were busy tomorrow morning-- wanna go surfing? We could go for some bro-unch afterwards _

 

Tyler snorted. Nice.

But... surfing? Tyler had grown up in Ohio, never once had he ever been surfing. He had lived in LA a total of two weeks and his apartment was still covered in boxes. 

Tyler didn’t even own a board, or like, whatever else he needed to do surfing... stuff with.

Some more text messages came in.

 

_ I got a board and a wetsuit you can borrow already down at the marina we can pick up before we head down to the beach. _

 

Tyler rubbed at his face as he stared at Josh’s message. Surfing. He was about to go surfing with an old friend from high school who was now really, really hot. Oh no. Oh no. 

He did want to catch up with Josh and hear about what he had been doing the past ten years. Tyler especially wanted to know how he had gotten so...  _ gorgeous. _

Okay. He could do this. He could be social for a couple of hours for quality time with Josh and food.

 

_ Yeah, that sounds fun! Looking forward to it! _

They exchanged some more text messages, and with the promise that Tyler would in fact be awake and ready to go at 6 am (ew), he brushed his teeth and climbed into bed.

The next morning, Tyler’s alarm went off at 5:30 am. With a long, audible groan, he rolled out of bed and face planted on the floor. After some more grumbles, Tyler picked himself up off the carpet (which was surprisingly soft) and shuffled to his closet. If he was going to be wearing a wetsuit, what was he supposed to wear under it? A swimsuit?

Wait. Was he expected to be completely  _ naked _ under that thing?

Part of him wanted to call Josh, but the sensible side of Tyler told him that was stupid, because if Tyler wanted to impress him, then he wasn’t supposed to ask dumb questions. So he put on some swim trunks, an old t-shirt he got from running a 5k several (several) years ago, and headed downstairs to shotgun a Redbull and munch on a cheese stick. Breakfast of champions, Tyler called it. Really was going to get him ready for a long day of surfing.

As he ate his cheese, Tyler thought about all the movies he had seen about surfers. You paddled out to sea, tried to stand, maybe got bitten by a shark...

There was a loud knock at the door.

Tyler stole a glance at the time clock on his microwave before heading towards his front door. Right on time, dude. Nice. Being punctual could be a turn on, right?

Josh wasn’t wearing a hat this time, and neon yellow curls spilled over his forehead messily. Okay, so he still had the punk thing going on, it just looked a lot... better... now. Tyler blinked as Josh flashed a perfect, ereatheal grin. 

“Hey bro, you ready to head out?”

“Uhm, yeah. Let’s... go.” Tyler reached for his Vans before following Josh outside. He locked his front door, and together they walked to the parking garage to Josh’s Volkswagen.

A few minutes of silence passed. Tyler watched the clock in the car turn from 6:01 to 6:02 and turned to watch passing apartments as they made their way to the marina. Tyler wasn’t much of a beach goer, but it seemed they really weren’t that far away from the ocean. Cool.

“Shoot,” Tyler suddenly murmured under his breath. “I forgot to bring a towel.”

“S’okay, I gotchu dude. Brought extras just in case.” Josh gestured to the back seat with his thumb. “We’re about two minutes away.”

“Coooooool,” Tyler tried his hand at being cool by stretching out the vowel and ended up feeling like an idiot instead. Fortunately Josh didn’t say anything. Tyler stole a glance at him. He wasn’t wearing a bathing suit. The dude was wearing jeans and a muscle tee. Did that mean he was getting into that wetsuit  _ naked? _

Tyler felt his cheeks burning. Oh no.  _ Oh no. _ He was going to throw up. He was going to projectile vomit everywhere. He--

“Here!” Josh announced cheerfully as he pulled into a parking space that had a sign in front, labeled  _ reserved for surfers. _ Tyler forced himself to take a couple deep breaths as he pushed open the car door and stepped out. He eyed Josh nervously. The guy was so... peppy for it being still dark outside.

“So all we got to do is get the stuff from my locker, change, and then walk down to the beach. There’s a little enclave I go to, that’s sort of a secret. We’ll have to climb over some rocks. You okay with that?”

“Yes.”

“Sick.” Josh led the way inside the small building, where a blonde lady who must have been at least in her early thirties sat, her fake nails clacking away at the keyboard. She looked up when the door chimed, and immediately her tired demeanor turned sensual.

“Hiya Joshua,” she said, pulling down on her dress to reveal some cleavage. Tyler ducked his head to hide his blush. Oh dear God. Everyone knew Josh was hot. “Surfing again?”

“‘Course, Emma, it’s beautiful outside, the tide is high, and I’m ready to get wet. I brought a friend with me today. This is Tyler.”

“Mrrp,” Tyler replied, raising his hand awkwardly. Emma frowned, obviously upset Tyler was interrupting her quality time with Josh.

“You have your key or do I need to get you one?”

Josh pulled a silver key out of his pocket and twirled it around his finger. “I’m good to go. Catch you later?” he winked, and beckoned Tyler to follow him down the hallway. They passed rows of doors until Josh reached his locker.

“So, uh, seems like the receptionist has the hots for you,” Tyler commented, trying to make small talk. Josh laughed.

“Yeah, that happens a lot. Guess I just have that effect on people.” Josh grinned ear to ear as he pulled off the lock and pushed open the door, revealing two, beautiful boards. One was blue, covered in detailed white flowers, while the other was black and red. Josh ventured to the back of the locker to open a trunk where the wetsuits were stored. He curled them to his chest and turned back around, now donning a frown.

“I’m kidding. I don’t think I’m like, hot stuff.” 

“I mean... seems like you’ve worked hard to make yourself hot stuff. If you got the bod, flaunt it.” Tyler shrugged, his cheeks burning. Josh’s smile was back.

“Thanks dude.” He tossed Tyler the wetsuit, which Tyler promptly missed. “Nice catch.”

“Thanks, I’ve worked extremely hard on my catching skills.” Tyler unfolded the suit and studied it. He had no idea how to put this on.

“Zipper goes in the back,” Josh explained, saving Tyler from asking how. “You’ll want it tight, but not too tight. I’ll help you zip it up, it can be a little tricky.”

“Okay.” Tyler didn’t move. Oh no. He was going to have to take off his shirt, wasn’t he? Would he have to take off his trunks, too?

Josh wasn’t paying attention, already stripping to slide into his own wetsuit. Tyler found himself staring. Josh’s body was amazing. Absolutely amazing. And he had the deepest V lines. Tyler was getting a full view, because his boxers sat so low on his hips--

“Bro? Everything okay?”

Tyler blinked rapidly and hoped he didn’t look like a creep. “I’m fine. Copacetic. Uhm, do I need to uh, strip completely naked?”

Josh let out a hearty laugh. “Nah, you can leave the trunks on. I don’t really worry about it and go out in my briefs. Same dif, right?”

“Y-Yes, same dif.” Tyler pulled off his shirt, feeling insecure about his body, especially standing next to Josh. As much as Tyler tried to work out a few times a week, his diet was pretty crappy, and he definitely didn’t have the abs or the muscles Josh did.

“Woah, dude.” Tyler looked up to see Josh in shock.

“What?”

“Your tats. They’re awesome.”

“Oh, thank you.” Tyler was blushing again. Dammit. He reached for the wetsuit and shoved his legs through it. He stumbled a bit, almost knocking over the surfboards, but strong arms saved him from plummeting to the concrete floor.

“Hold still,” murmured Josh as he zipped up the back of the suit, his own sitting limply around his waist. Tyler was almost certain his cheeks were permanently red by this point. They had to be.

He tried not to think about Josh’s hands on his body as Josh finished pulling his own suit up before reaching for the boards. Josh grabbed the red and black one.

“You good with blue?”

“Yah, bro,” Tyler nodded, taking it in his arms. He watched Josh scoop up all their clothes off the floor and followed him back down the hallway, past Emma’s goo-goo eyes, and to his car, where he exchanged their clothes for towels. Josh flipped them over his shoulder and gestured towards the beach in front of them.

“Ready?”

_ No. No I am not. _ “Yes,” Tyler said. He began following Josh across cool sand, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore buzzing in the air. Despite the early hour, a few joggers dotted the beach, and seagulls squealed from up above. There was something strangely... peaceful about it all, especially now that the sun was coming up.

Josh led him up and over several large rocks, which left Tyler panting when he reached the top. “Going down is much easier,” Josh promised, and they continued on.

_ Finally,  _ they arrived to a small enclave that was surrounded by rocks on three sides. Josh dug his board in the dirt and laid out their towels.

“This place is beautiful,” said Tyler as he glanced around. The water was so blue, the sand so white-- and it really was peaceful with no one around.

Josh beamed. “Isn’t it? I don’t think anyone is technically supposed to come over here, but whatever. I’m a rebel.”

“I dig your style. You were a rebel back in high school, if I recall correctly.”

This time, Josh blushed. He rubbed his neck awkwardly. “Yeah. I did a lot of stupid stuff.”

“Still smoke weed?” Tyler raised an eyebrow playfully, grinning as Josh’s blush deepened.

“No, actually. I’ve been totally sober from alcohol and pot and all that good stuff for almost six years now. Tried to leave that behind when I started doing the buff thing.”

“I don’t actually drink either, so works for me.” The two shared a grin before Josh clapped his hands together and gestured towards the water.

“Alright, my bro, ready for the best surfing lesson of your life?”

“If I drown, I’ll haunt your ass.”

“Noted. Okay, into the water we go.” Josh led the way, his board tucked under his arm. He dropped it into the sand where the tide barely came to the tip of it.

Tyler let his toes sink into the sand as the water rushed over them. It was cold. It was very cold.

“Since you’ve never done this before, we’re going to practice right here before we go any farther. I don’t actually want you drowning.”

“Or getting eaten by sharks?”

“Definitely don’t want you getting eaten by sharks.”

“Good. I don’t think I want my fate to end up like Fisherman Quint in  _ Jaws.” _

“Nah. We won’t need a bigger boat.” Josh’s perfect smile was back. It sent chills down Tyler’s back.

Actually, that might have just been because there was cold water running over the tops of his feet again.

“Okay. Put your palms towards the front of the board. That’ll help stabilize you when you try to stand.”

“Got it.”

“Try to stay in the middle so you don’t lose your balance. We’re going to practice standing for a few minutes to prepare you in the water. Don’t get full of yourself, because it’s much easier on land than by sea, bro.”

“‘Kay, bro.” Tyler did as he was told. When Josh gave him the okay, the two headed into the water with their boards, leashes attached to their ankles. You know, for safety purposes. The water seemed to get colder the deeper in they got.

Josh sat on his board like a pro, while Tyler struggled to keep his balance. It did seem easier to lay down; how the heck was he expected to stand up?

“If the waves get too big for you to paddle past when you’re out there, quickly grab onto the sides and flip over. Your board will protect you. S’called turtling. You know, like a turtle’s defense mechanism? It flips right over.”

“That’s what I do after Thanksgiving dinner,” Tyler said joking, causing Josh to chuckle.

“Okay. You ready?” Josh pointed out to an oncoming wave further away from shore. “That’s your wave. Do exactly what we did on land. Paddle, paddle, paddle until you feel the wave pick you up, and stand. Easy, right?”

“Uhm...” No. Not easy. “Yes. Totally.”

“Alright bro, catch you on the flipside.” Josh gave Tyler’s board a hearty shove, and cheered him on excitedly as Tyler paddled. There was something quite serene about this; the waves were dark, but calm, peaceful, as the sky exploded with reds and pinks and oranges. The sun peaked over the horizon right as Tyler noticed that the wave that had seemed so small was now fifty times as big as him. He stopped paddling and felt his breath lodge in his throat.

Josh started yelling at Tyler to stand up, but Tyler physically could not do that. His arms were frozen to the side of the board as the wave crashed into him, sending him tumbling underwater, the current rushing him back to shore. Tyler popped back up out of the water and wiped the salt water out of his eyes right in time to watch Josh surfing, actually  _ surfing,  _ back to shore. He let himself roll off the board right before it got stuck in the sand and laughed as he resurfaced.

“Dude, that’s definitely not how you surf.”

“You make it look so easy,” Tyler replied sadly. “Also, this sucks. This is very hard. I think we do, in fact, need a bigger boat.”

Josh laughed again. Tyler knew for sure the chills this time were not from the water.

“Round two?”

“Race you.”

“Deal.”

***

Hours passed by like minutes as Tyler continued to try and “surf,” if it could even be called that. After five rounds, Tyler managed to get on his knees. After seven rounds, he managed to stand, his arms wobbling around to keep balance-- even though he fell three seconds later, Josh still cheered and clapped his hands.

Before the eighth round, Tyler dropped down on the ground, letting the sand cling to his back as he pushed his wet hair out of his face. Josh pulled his board out of the water, unhooked the leash from his ankle, and padded over to where Tyler had laid down.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s great. I just...” Tyler sighed and sat up, watching as Josh dropped down next to him. “It’s true that I moved here for a teaching job, but I could have stayed back in Ohio, you know? I just... I needed change. I wanted to get away from my family’s pestering. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love ‘em, but--”

“You need your space. I get it bro. It’s understandable.”

“I didn’t expect to make any friends because I’m terrible with words and didn’t want to put forth the effort to be social. But then, you ended up being my next door neighbor. Two high school kids from Columbus ended up being next door neighbors all the way in Los Angeles.”

“Fate gets a kick of coincidences, my dude.” Josh took a deep breath and looked at the rolling waves of the ocean. The sun was in the sky now completely. Neither of them knew what time it was because they had neglected to bring their cell phones. “I moved here for similar reasons, actually. I had some friends, online friends, at the time, that asked if I’d be interested in playing drums for their band. They weren’t big, and actually kind of shitty, but I wanted out. I wanted adventure. I had never wanted to do college, or the school thing at all really, and for the longest time, I felt like my parents would always be disappointed in me. Well, what ended up happening was that the band went through several member changes, and finally we were able to score a decent gig as the opening band for Vinyl Fantasy IV-- ever heard of them?” Tyler shook his head no. “They weren’t very good either, but their band name was an amazing pun. Anyways, that was sort of our big break. Finally, our band was sorta decent, but I... I was living that rockstar life a little too highly, was actually becoming a little too full of myself. We were still living in a van at this point. I got blackout drunk almost every night, snorted coke, did all kinds of terrible shit-- actually overdosed one time on Adderall, had to get my stomach pumped. And I realized, if this is what I want to do with my life, I need to shape up. I need to prepare myself for a decent life, in case I meet someone, start a family, buy a house, whatever. I wanted to live as long as possible, so I started doing the buff thing and quit cold turkey.”

Wow. Tyler couldn’t believe it. “I’m glad you’re okay now,” he said, hoping it was the right thing  _ to _ say. Josh smiled.

“Me too, bro. Hold up, I got some drinks for us.” Josh stood up and walked over to one section of rocks, where he pulled open a cooler by a handle that was duct taped on. He reached in and grabbed two cans of Redbull, before padding back over to Tyler and tossing him one.

“Thanks.” Tyler popped the tab and took a long, refreshing sip. It didn’t even matter that it was room temperature; it still hit the spot.

Josh was studying him, his drink still unopened. “Tyler, do you still do the music stuff?”

Oh yeah. Tyler had done a ton of choir stuff during high school. He had actually been president of Chamber and A Capella choir his senior year-- one of his crowning achievements. Josh had used to come to a bunch of them because at one point he had dated a girl in choir. It was nice, because he never failed to give Tyler a compliment.

“Uhm, I haven’t... in a while.” He thought about his ukuleles that were sitting at the storage unit. There were about four in there. Tyler was pretty sure he had left his guitar and his bass with his parents and burned all his notebooks with song lyrics in them.

Tyler wasn’t quite sure what it was exactly, but after he graduated and starting attending college, he sort of just... snapped. He had been a rubber band stretched too thin, and one day, he had gave music up completely: Tyler stopped showing up to college choir practice, took all his instruments back to his parent’s place, and put all his notebooks somewhere he could forget about them. One or two he actually had burned.

Josh frowned. “Why’s that? You had such a beautiful voice. Well, have?”

Tyler shrugged. “Dunno. Guess I kinda got over that.”

A nod. Josh finally cracked open his Redbull, took a long sip, and gestured vaguely to the ocean.

“Got a few more rounds in you?”

“Hell yeah.”

***

After they were done surfing, the two of them changed, and headed down to the pier for some brunch. Tyler ordered the greasiest breakfast he could get: scrambled eggs covered in cheese, fried hashbrowns, and bacon dripping with grease. Josh only had a single piece of wheat toast, some cantaloupe, and some boring normal scrambled eggs.

Tyler felt fat eating all this junk in front of Josh, but he was so hungry and in the moment that he didn’t even care. He shoveled eggs into his mouth as Josh sipped his coffee and leaned his head back against the edge of the booth. His wet hair was finally starting to dry, and curling over his forehead. God. He was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

The waitress, a pretty redhead with straight teeth, stopped by their table for a fifth time. Jesus, they had just gotten their food like five minutes ago.

“Need more coffee?” She batted her eyelashes. Josh blushed as he raised his coffee mug.

“Still uh, have some from the last time. Thank you though.”

Their waitress, who’s name was Alexa according to her nametag, leaned forward on the table. “Were you guys at the beach today?”

“Yeah,” Josh definitely didn’t have the confidence he had with the receptionist. He was stuttering over his words, his face a bright shade of red that Tyler was certain his face had been all day.

“It’s a nice day to be out. Weather is good, wind is calm...” she raised an eyebrow.

Josh cleared his throat. “Yeah, it was nice.”

“Do you surf?”

Tyler could tell Josh was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with this girl’s constant flirting. He got her attention and pointed to his half empty diet coke.

“Hey, when you get the chance, do you think you could get me another diet coke?”

Her lips pressed into a tight smile. “Yes, of course.” The two watched Alexa walk back into the kitchen before Josh let out a deep breath.

“Thanks for that.”

“We can’t take you anywhere,” Tyler grinned, shaking his head. “Next time we’re going to have to order take out and watch movies in the safety of my apartment. I’ll be prepared to hit the delivery guy with a rolled up newspaper when he starts to flirt with you.”

Josh rolled his eyes. “Thank you. I just... I don’t really want to be dating at the moment. I’ve got the band, and when we tour, I don’t have time to be in a relationship. I’d rather focus on my life first.”

“I get that. My parents, well, just my mom, really, is constantly pestering me about getting a girlfriend because my younger siblings are already married and like... I just... I dunno. It’s hard enough for me to make friends, nonetheless find someone to date.” he shrugged. “Besides, I’m not even completely sure of my sexuality, you know? Like... I’ve dated girls. Not many, but I have dated them.”

“Right,” Josh remembered, “you dated Jenna Black your junior year. How long did that relationship last?”

“Until my sophomore year of college. She went to Ohio State with me.”

“How’d it end?”

Tyler shrugged lamely. “She uhm... at a party. Disappeared. And I found her... with some other guy.”

“Oh dude.” Josh frowned and reached across the table to touch his wrist out of sympathy. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. I sort of saw it coming. And I wasn’t really upset, at her anyways, I just... I felt really shitty about myself, like I wasn’t a good enough boyfriend, y’know? Because obviously she wouldn’t have cheated on me if I had been better.”

“You can’t think like that, bro. You’re awesome. You’ve always been awesome. You deserve happiness just as much as the next guy, and what Jenna did was not cool. I’m more than certain you were a good boyfriend. She just... well, I dunno what was going through her head, but she was dumb enough to cheat on you, so there’s that. Find someone who won’t cheat on you.”

“Wise words of advice,” Tyler replied, smiling. Josh opened his mouth to reply when their waitress interrupted. She slammed Tyler’s glass down on the table, spilling soda over the edges.

“Here’s your cherry coke,” she said, barely looking at Tyler before her attention was back on Josh. Tyler blinked.

“It was diet coke but okay.”

“Hey, if you like, aren’t busy on Saturday, we should totally go down to the beach together. I would love to catch some sun.”

“Oh uhm.” Josh’s face was turning red again. “Uhm, uh, yeah. Maybe?”

“Cool.” With a large grin, Alexa, if that even was her real name, pulled out the receipt, which conveniently already had her phone number scrawled at the bottom with a big heart next to it. “Call me.” She blew Josh a kiss before walking away.

“Maybe we should actually be hanging out in dark basements and alleyways where no one can see your hot bod,” Tyler said, causing Josh to laugh.

“I’m not going to call her, but now I feel bad.”

“Better not ever come to this place again. She’ll feed on your blood, bro.”

“Bro,” Josh replied softly. He squeezed Tyler’s wrist again and didn’t let go.

***

Josh and Tyler walked up to their hallway and stopped in front of Tyler’s apartment. Josh cleared his throat.

“Well, thank you for coming surfing with me. I had a lot of fun.”

“Yeah, me too. I promise that next time we go surfing, I’ll be probably still horrible at it.”

Josh chuckled. “Nah dude, you were great.” He reached out to brush away the hair sticking to Tyler’s forehead, which sent a chill down Tyler’s spine. “We should have brought sunscreen though bro, your forehead is fried.”

“As I’m sure the rest of my body is as well. It’s all good. I tan.”

“I’ll expect you to be very brown the next time I see you.” His soft smile grew into a hearty grin. Tyler smiled back.

“I’ll be the color of... wheat bread.” They both laughed this time. Josh touched Tyler’s face again before he let his hand fall back to his side.

“Well, uhm, see you around, bro?”

Tyler nodded. “Yeah, bro. See ya.”

After they went their separate ways, Tyler headed straight to the shower to get the smell of sea off of him. A wave of realization hit him the minute he stepped into the warm spray.

He was falling for Josh.

Shit.


	2. Soccer Coach Bro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pt 2 broooooooooo

The school year started and Tyler quickly fell into a rhythm. He was teaching English III and English IV, which wouldn’t be too hard, considering he’d be with juniors and seniors. Tyler liked to think he was cool enough to talk to teenagers. He was awkward, sure, but not totally awkward, right? He could be hip if he tried hard enough.

Tyler had decorated his room in posters from movies, bands, books, and TV shows, hoping it would spark a connection with at least one of the kids. He’d get that budding friendship if it was the last thing he did. It was funny how dedicated Tyler was to befriending these high schoolers and trying to convince them he was cool when he was ready to put absolutely no effort into trying to make actual friends. You know. His own age.

His relationship with Josh was going pretty good, though. They had gone bike riding one day-- well, Tyler was riding a bike, Josh was skateboarding. He was so good at it too, kickflipping and olling and whatever other skateboard moves existed out there in the world. The two had even worked out a few times together, going jogging around the park and making use of the complementary gym their complex offered. Josh could literally run circles around Tyler, and most of their workout sessions ended with Tyler dry heaving over a trash can, but besides that, it really was a lot of fun catching up with Josh. Although his physical appearance had changed, it was still the same old Josh. He still made dumb jokes, liked the same movies and bands, and it was awesome to reminisce in old times.

And, true to Tyler’s words, they had in fact ordered take out and watched movies in the darkness of Tyler’s living room, Tyler standing guard with a rolled up newspaper in case the delivery guy decided to issue a flirting attack. (Fortunately, he did no such thing.)

As September rolled around, Tyler had finally finished unpacking his boxes and putting his apartment together (two months later, sounded like him) and decided one Saturday morning that he was going to treat himself to a nice, leisurely stroll in the park nearby. He passed a lot of people with dogs and wondered if he could get one. Tyler wasn’t quite sure if the apartment complex allowed pets, but he could forge some sort of note claiming he absolutely needed one, right?

Tyler wanted a big dog, a big, fluffy dog that was twice his size and would make a good cuddler. He was tired of spooning his pillows.

As he approached a small field, he realized there was some sort of soccer game going on; little girls probably around eight or nine sporting green and black jerseys were playing rough. One tripped over another girl’s foot and face planted into the mud, immediately bursting into tears.

Tyler was about to continue on when a familiar flash of neon yellow caught his attention. He squinted.

No way. No frickin’ way. Was that... _Josh?_

Well, Tyler wasn’t continuing his stroll, at least not yet. He bounded down the hill like a puppy and joined the parents in the bleachers, trying to make himself look like he belonged and not like a creep that watched eight year olds play soccer.

Yikes. That’s exactly what he was doing. This was weird. He should probably go, right? But he wanted to see why Josh was here... with a baseball hat on... and a whistle, and... a clipboard?

It clicked. _Holy shit._

Josh was the coach. The soccer coach.

Tyler accidentally kicked the edge of the bleacher, sending a wave of pain through his ankle and causing several parents to give him dirty looks. He waved awkwardly and ducked his head to hide his blush.

Why the hell was Josh a _soccer coach?_

Wait. Maybe he had kids who were on the team. Tyler did the math on his fingers. If Josh was 29, that meant he could have an 8 year old if he had a kid when he was 21. That was reasonable. That was justified.

Tyler blinked. His head hurt.

“Lexi! Sweetheart! Use the inside of your foot!” Josh yelled, stepping closer to the inside of the field. The girl, Lexi, looked over at him, losing the ball in the process to a girl on the other team. Josh sighed, looking down at his clipboard to scribble something across the paper. Another girl who was the goalie was sitting down in the field, not really paying attention to the game itself, but twisting flowers together into some sort of crown. Her parents were yelling at her to get up and play, but the girl did not seem even a bit interested in doing so.

Josh walked around the edge of the field to the girl and bent down so she could hear him. “Ella, love, can you play the game?”

The girl said something inaudible, but lifted up her crown made of tiny pink flowers and smiled. Josh smiled back.

“It’s beautiful, can you finish making it later?” Ella handed it to him, and without even hesitating, Josh pulled off his cap and placed the crown on his head. The girl giggled and stood up, dusting grass off of her shorts.

“GAME TIME!!!” She shouted loudly, lunging for the ball that was kicked her way. Ella rolled in the grass with the ball in her hands and raised it proudly above her head from the ground, earning a cheer from her appreciative coach. Wow, the girls really seemed to love Josh. It was actually pretty cute.

Josh’s team, which Tyler learned were the tigers, ended up winning the game 5-2. He waited patiently to speak to Josh, watching as parents held the hands of their tiny but fierce girls and led them to their parked cars across the street. Some stayed and talked to Josh about their kids performance, when the next practice was, where the next game was being held. It was sort of crazy actually, watching single moms flirting with Josh hardcore. Everyone really did seem to realize just how attractive Josh was.

Finally, the field void of parents and tiny children, Josh began packing up some gear, a water cooler, some extra jerseys, and some other stuff that Tyler wasn’t familiar with. He tiptoed over, trying to be quiet, but ended up tripping over a stick and plummeting to the grass. Josh looked over, his face immediately turning beet red, as Tyler picked himself off the ground guiltily. Nice, Tyler. Real smooth.

“Hey bro,” Tyler leaned against the goal post to try and make himself look cooler. “I didn’t know you were a soccer mom.”

Josh laughed, a hand flying out to self consciously rub his neck. “Uhm... yeah. You weren’t supposed to find out this way.”

“Were you going to even tell me?”

“Nah.” They both shared a grin as Tyler made his way over to the bench with Josh’s stuff on it.

“Mom’s seem to really love you.”

“Yeah! The girls are all really sweet. Eight year olds can be evil though, look out for that. A lot of them just have a ton of energy that sports help relieve, so. You know.”

“They seem to love you too.” Tyler raised a finger to point to his head, which caused Josh to reach for the flower crown he was still sporting. His blush deepened further. Wow, so Josh was a normal human being. Tyler suddenly felt much better.

He pulled it off his head and set it on the bench before running a hand through his hair. “Ella loves to do everything besides play the game. I’m glad she managed to catch that ball though. Helped us keep our streak this season.”

“So... soccer coach, huh? How’d that happen?” Part of Tyler was preparing himself for the possibility of Josh having a daughter in the third grade.

“I actually have some friends who have girls on the team. The original coach quit last summer, and since the band hasn’t exactly been touring during the summers, they asked me if I’d be interested in helping out. I said yes. I enjoy it a ton, surprisingly.”

Tyler let out a sigh of relief. Okay, no kids, not yet. Maybe this could work out. “Do you also enjoy getting hit on by single mothers?”

Josh shook his head, a smile still on his face. “Like I said at bro-unch, my dude. I’m not too interested in putting myself out into the dating pool at the moment, you know? I just... I need to focus on other things right now, and this is definitely one of them. The mom’s can hit on me all the want, but I’m not going to do anything about it.”

“Let ‘em down gently. Hit soccer balls, don’t get hit on by moms.”

He chuckled. “Exactly. Hey, wanna kick a ball around? Still have familiarity with balls?”

As dirty as the question sounded, Tyler knew exactly what Josh was referring to. Back in high school, Tyler had played club basketball outside of school. Countless times had the basketball coach for the high school team begged him to join, but Tyler had so much rather have focused his time on schoolwork and choir. Besides, he liked his club team a helluva lot more than he would have liked the people he was forced to attend school with.

He hadn’t tried for any divisions in college. Basketball during his teen years was enough and wasn’t really something Tyler had been interested in afterwards.

“Yeah, all the balls love me,” Tyler replied, reaching to pick the soccer ball off the ground. Josh pointed.

“Handball,” he said teasingly, smiling ear to ear. Tyler smiled back and let the ball drop down. He kicked it gently, using the inside of his foot like the genius soccer coach had told that one girl. Josh kicked back, unsurprisingly not bad at soccer. Tyler was more than certain Josh was good at like, everything now.

“How’s work been?” Josh asked as Tyler returned the kick. He hustled over to where the ball had steered.

“It’s been good! All the kids are super nice. I think one or two of them think I’m actually pretty cool, so.” Tyler stopped the ball with his foot and rocked on his heels before sending it back to Josh. “It is really cool to see my name outside the room though.”

“Mr. Joseph. Quite fitting, I think.”

“Really? See, I don’t think I’m used to that yet. No one really has ever called me Mr. Joseph.”

“Not even during your student teaching?”

“Well... there was like, a running gag when I was doing that. Most of the kids would call me Tyler only because it pissed off the teacher that was mentoring me.”

Josh snorted. “Okay then, maybe I’ll just call you Mr. Joseph from now on.”

Tyler groaned jokingly. “Nooooooooooo. It makes me sound old.”

“I used to call all my teachers by just their last names. Maybe the kids can call you Joseph. Or Joe.” Josh blinked, resting his foot on the top of the ball. “Hmm. I just realized your full name is made of up two first names.”

“Middle name too,” Tyler replied, adding fuel to the fire because he was dumb like that, “It’s Robert.”

Josh burst out into hearty laughter. “Oh my god. I’m going to tell all of those kids to call you Bobby Joe.”

“Nooooooooooooooo!!!” Tyler was laughing now too. In fact, he was so distracted, that when Josh kicked the ball, it soared through the air (because he had used his powerful thighs or something) and nailed Tyler in the forehead. Dramatically, Tyler flopped to the grass, already preparing for large grass stains to be on his white shirt.

“Holy shit bro, I’m so sorry!” Josh called out as he rushed over to make sure Tyler was okay. He helped him sit up and pushed the hair off his forehead. “Okay, well, good news is that there’s only like, a faint red mark, which I think will go away soon.”

“I can’t believe you tried to kill me, bro. How could you?”

Josh shook his head, still worried. “I wasn’t trying to, I swear.”

“J, it’s all good. I’m okay. Unless you want to kiss it or something, I’m going to get up now so we can return to our game.” Tyler tried to stand up, but Josh held him down, his hands gripping his shoulders tightly. Slowly, Josh looked Tyler up and down, before he leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead. Tyler’s cheeks burned.

“Feel better?” He whispered huskily into Tyler’s ear. Tyler swallowed loudly and nodded his head rapidly.

“Y-Yeah,” and, just to make himself feel less awkward about everything, Tyler added a friendly “bro,” which got Josh to crack a grin.

“Bro. Wanna help me take my stuff to the car? We could go get lunch, if you so desire. I’m thinking tacos. Greasy ass, disgusting tacos.”

Tyler gasped. “Bro! The caloric intake!”

“It’s a Saturday. Today is cheat day.”

“I’m always down for tacos. If you’re looking for unhealthy fake meat, I think Taco Bell is the place for us to go.”

“Good call, bro.”

***

After the two had carried the rest of the equipment to the car, Josh drove them to the closest Taco Bell, where they each ordered a handful of disgustingly unhealthy and very fake Mexican items, as well as two large sodas. Man, for a cheat day, Josh really went all out. For Tyler, every day was cheat day, so he wasn’t too worried about his physique.

For the first ten minutes, neither one of them spoke, too interested in the plethora of tacos laid out in front of them. Tyler had turned into a hoover vacuum, sucking up these delicious tacos one by one without stopping for air. He was actually extremely impressed by his taco eating skills.

Josh’s sudden laughter got Tyler to come out of the Taco Zone as he paused taking a bite, letting his fifth taco hang out midair.

“You are a mess, bro,” Josh said teasingly, pointing to all the shredded lettuce and cheese that covered the tray below. “And also...” Before Tyler could comprehend what was going on, Josh had reached across the table and used his thumb to swipe away at some sauce that was on his chin. Instantly, Tyler felt his face turn red as Josh settled back down in his chair and grinned smugly.

“Uhm, I’m almost certain it’s impossible to not get messy when eating tacos.” He gestured to Josh’s own tray, which was covered in just as much taco meat, lettuce, and cheese. “Whoever designed taco shells did a very terrible job.”

“He certainly was a God, though, right?”

“Yes. Yes, he was.” There was one last taco on Josh’s tray. He seemed to realize Tyler was eyeing it.

“Go ahead, kiddo.” Josh pushed the taco Tyler’s way and watched in laughter as Tyler devoured it. He pretended to wipe away a tear. “My tiny bro is all grown up.”

“Don’t let my size fool you. I can eat an entire horse if necessary.” They both looked at each other, beaming, for a long time. Josh was the one to break their staring contest by offering to take Tyler’s trash.

“You ready to go?” He asked when he came back. Tyler nodded, and together they climbed into the vehicle. The low hum of the radio was the only sound between them for a good amount of the trip. It was a good silence though-- not awkward, or tense, just... silent. A serene, sensible silence.

Tyler snickered. Hah. Alliteration.

Josh suddenly cleared his throat. “Can I ask you a question? And you don’t have to answer if you feel uncomfortable, but I feel like we’ve gotten close enough over the past months that I can ask you this.”

Uh oh. “Uhm, yeah. Go ahead.”

“Why did you stop playing?”

Oh. _Oh._ Tyler didn’t say anything. Josh continued.

“I mean, music really seemed like your thing back in school. And I know you did the talent show all four years, and you had been so active in choir, and your voice--”

“I know,” Tyler interrupted in a snippy tone.

Josh was quiet. Tyler was quiet.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

“No, I’m sorry.” Tyler sighed. “It’s.. it’s a sensitive subject. High school had been a really hard time for me. I had friends, but I never really felt like I belonged with them, you know? I felt like I was floating through life because I had to. And I struggled for the longest time with anxiety and depression.” He looked over at Josh to make sure he was still following. Josh gestured for him to continue.

“I did therapy for a while, and I guess after I graduated, I didn’t want to be sad anymore. I really didn’t feel the way I had before, because I was free to start this second chapter of my life and be my own person, live by my own rules. I really associated music with the bad parts of my life, and I haven’t really been able to do it since. I’ve been trying to avoid opening up that trunk.”

Josh nodded. “I get it, bro. You know, I was the same way in high school. I know I was a slacker and a weird fucking kid, but I struggled too, with anxiety and depression and stuff. I never had an interest in school like other kids did. I don’t know. I knew people thought I was weird and gross and a stoner. I know not many people liked me. I guess... I guess that’s why I changed my appearance. I wanted people to finally respect me.”

“I always thought you were cool,” Tyler said, reaching out to touch his arm. Josh let his shoulders slouch and smiled graciously.

“I know you did. Thank you for that. You were definitely one of the best people I knew back at that hell hole.”

“You were pretty awesome too, dude.”

“I’m really glad we got to connect again. It’s nice having a familiar face around. And it’s really nice talking about the past.”

“It’ll be even better when we start talking about the future,” Tyler replied, maybe a bit too flirty. Josh didn’t seem bothered by it and nodded in agreement.

“That too. And strangely enough, it’s been nice getting things off my chest, y’know? Like, all these girls that are constantly flirting with me, they don’t know my past. You do. You know what I’m like underneath my strong arms and hot bod.”

Tyler snorted. “Yes. I knew the long haired drama queen who dressed like a low rent Gerard Way.”

Josh playfully shoved him with one hand as he pulled into the parking garage of their apartment complex. “You’re right, though.”

“So are you. I haven’t talked about the music thing in so long. I’ve been putting it aside for so long, but it did feel good to get it off my chest. I’m glad you’re around.”

“I’m glad you’re around too. Up for another movie night?”

“Hell fuckin’ yeah.”

***

The two saddled up on Josh’s couch this time, and with an old classic playing, _(Space Odyssey 2001._ Josh’s pick) they snuggled up close. Josh had even made popcorn for the occasion, continuing their very productive cheat day.

“This movie is very confusing,” Tyler whispered halfway into it. Josh shushed him.

“It’s only confusing because you aren’t paying attention.” That was true. Tyler was distracted by his phone.

“I’m trying to pay attention, but it’s hard to do so when I’m confused!” He argued back, hoping his rebuttal was strong enough to get Josh to explain what the hell was happening. With a sigh, Josh paused the movie. Bam. Tyler won.

“Look. These astronauts got sent on a mission into space. This movie came out in 1968, so 2001 seemed to be really far in the future, you know? So everything is all sci-fi-y and futuristic. So there’s this AI named Hal that helps run the ship. And he starts acting weird, so it’s your basic man versus machine showdown.”

“Uh-huh,” Tyler nodded his head, making sure Josh was aware he was still following.

“Also, this has nothing to do with the movie, but the people that think the moon landing was faked thought the director of this movie, Stanley Kubrick, was responsible for it because of how lifelike the sets in this movie were. So--”

Tyler’s phone rang, and Josh groaned dramatically, flopping back against the couch cushions. It was really adorable how into film Josh got. Tyler sorta felt bad for pushing his buttons, but it was a lot of fun. Ripped, punk looking Josh was secretly an adorable film geek.

“Crap,” Tyler murmured, looking at the caller ID. Josh sat up.

“Who is it?”

“The principal. Hold up.” He answered it and raised his cell to his ear. “Afternoon Principal McFly! How are you?” Tyler nodded. “Good, good. Yes, I have a second to talk. Yes. Mmhmm. Right.” Some more nodding. “Oh no, that’s not good.” Tyler blinked. Josh continued to stare at him in worry. “Uhm, I dunno sir... yes. Yes, I’ll let you know Monday morning. Thank you.” The call ended and Tyler glanced Josh’s way.

“Lemme guess. He’s building a time machine out of a Delorean and needs your help.”

Tyler rolled his eyes, but that didn’t stop him from smiling. “Ha, like he’s never heard that before. Give the guy a break. He’s nice.”

“Is his first name Marty? George? Lorraine?”

“You aren’t funny, wise guy.”

“I’m just being an ass. What’s up?”

“So uh... boy’s basketball season starts in November, so conditioning starts next month, and uhm, the coach just quit. He wasn’t a teacher or anything, just a random outside hire. But it looks like the district is desperate, and since he knows I played most of my life... Richard asked me if I’d be willing to be the new coach.”

“Bro!” Josh latched onto Tyler’s arm. “You have to say yes!”

“I dunno man, we talked about this. Basketball, music, that stuff just makes me think of the bad times--”

“Tyler, we both had bad times. That’s why we were trying to talk them out, right? This is a perfect opportunity for you to make all those youths think you are one cool dude. Isn’t this what you were telling me? About wanting to be a positive influence in these teenagers lives?”

“Well yeah--”

“This is the perfect way to do it, dude. Kids always look up to their coaches. I love coaching for those girls, and you, you’ll get to hang with teens and learn all the slang and memes and stuff!”

Tyler sighed. He began picking at the fraying threads of the blanket draped over his lap. “I haven’t touched a basketball in ten years. I could suck now.”

“Are you coaching JV or varsity?”

“Varsity.”

“Ty.” Josh reached out for Tyler’s shoulders. “I know you’re the man for the job. You are a shining beacon of awesomeness who is meant to be a great, inspiring coach for the youths of Central High. Plus, doesn’t that get you some giant bonus?”

“Yeah. But that’s not the important part.”

“If you relate basketball with bad times, this is the way to start creating good times. Y’know? And I promise to come to all the games for moral support.”

Tyler raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to pretend you have kids that are playing?”

Josh snickered. “Is that what you were doing today?”

“Maybe.”

A laugh. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to convince you how amazing you are.”

Tyler settled back down into the couch cushions and leaned his head on Josh’s shoulder. “Bro, I don’t know what I would do without you here. You’re my rock, bro.”

“When do you have to have your decision made?”

“Monday.”

“What’s the verdict, bro?”

“I’ll do it, but only because I’ve got you for moral support.”

Josh ruffled Tyler’s hair. “Duh. And you know something? My life’s been better with you in it. It’s really nice getting away from...” he twisted his arms in some vague gesture, “everything.”

Tyler suddenly sat up so fast that he about flipped off the couch. Josh’s eyes widened. “Bro, you good?”

“Let’s go camping!” Tyler exclaimed, probably a bit too quickly.

“Camping?”

“Yeah! California is gorgeous, we could definitely find a nice camping ground away from all the smog and pollution and noise--”

“Dude, we can’t just up and go camping, we have jobs, things we have to do--”

“We’ll find a weekend that works for the both of us, even if it’s far off in the future. You said yourself it’s nice getting away from everything, right? This is the perfect way to do it. No thinking about the band, or about working out, or the soccer team, or about my school and my new coaching job. Just you and me, bro, under the stars, eating meat like real men.”

“That does sound nice,” Josh agreed, rubbing his neck. “I’d have to talk to the guys to see what’s going on with the band, and figure out when the soccer season ends.”

“That’s fine! I’ll have to figure out all the basketball stuff anyways.”

“Camping.” Josh let out an exasperated laugh. “Wow. We’re actually going to do it.”

“Hell yeah. I’ll have to dig out that old tent out of storage. Remember that one time you came over for a project--”

“And we ended up pitching that tent for your younger siblings because your mom got mad they were playing in the house? Bro, do I. I felt like a true man scout.”

“We did horrible on that project.” They both broke out into soft giggles. Josh pulled the blanket towards him a little bit and pressed closer to Tyler so he could lay his head on Tyler’s shoulder.

“Pay attention to the movie this time,” Josh whispered, pushing play.

“Sure thing, bro,” Tyler whispered back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what's coming next...


	3. Camping Trip, Bro

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter! Thank you all for being patient and for reading, I hope you enjoy! (bro.)

It took a little bit of work, but the boys finally found a crisp (well, crisp in California weather terms), November weekend to become one with nature. Tyler's schedule had been a bit all over the place as he was thrown back into the world of basketball, but everyone on the team seemed really cool and seemed to enjoy having Tyler as their coach. A couple of boys even had Tyler has their English teacher, which was also really awesome, and made Tyler feel significantly less awkward about his coaching abilities.

True to his word, Josh had shown up to every game, always cheering, watching, and afterward, he and Tyler would head back to their apartments to watch a movie. Sometimes Josh would join Tyler and the team for a celebration, because, in Josh's words, Tyler was the “best, most awesome high school varsity basketball coach the world has ever seen.” Then Josh would start a chant that would end with a bunch of teenage boys screaming ‘go team!’ and employees of the establishment would come over to yell at them to be quiet. Having Josh around definitely made the whole “Coach Joseph” thing better. (Except when he got the boys to call him Coach Bobby Joe. Tyler wasn’t the biggest fan of that, but he'd tolerate it because it was Josh and he liked Josh.)

The soccer season had ended, and Josh’s band had a tour scheduled to start in December; Tyler’s team had no games, no meetings, _and_ it was a three day weekend for the district, meaning this weekend was just meant for them to head out into the wilderness.

Tyler hadn't seen Josh in about in week; their schedules hadn't lined up, for Tyler was leaving early in the mornings for school and coming home late because of basketball practice. In fact, this camping trip would be the first time in about a month that the two of them would be able to see each other for longer than a couple of hours.

After gathering everything Tyler thought he'd need for a camping trip, he cracked open his door and ventured over to Josh’s apartment. After three loud knocks, he stepped back and waited.

And waited.

With a frown, Tyler knocked again and pressed his ear against the door, listening for movement. Sure enough, Josh’s voice came from behind it.

“Uh, just a second!” He called out, his voice cracking.  Tyler’s frown deepened. What was going on? That didn't sound like Josh’s usual chipper tone.

Suddenly, the door was yanked open, causing Tyler to stumble backward. His eyebrows narrowed as he looked over at Josh through the crack in the door.

“H-Hey Ty, I uhm, don't think I can go camping with you this weekend anymore, something came up--”

“Whaddya mean?” Tyler tried to look inside Josh's apartment, but he had the door pulled so tightly around him that his eyes were really the only thing Tyler could see.

“I uhm... well...” Josh trailed off, obviously upset about something. Tyler crossed his arms.

“Let me come in Josh, so we can talk about what's bothering you.”

With a sigh, Josh nodded, pulling his door wide enough for Tyler to sneak past before closing it.

Josh's apartment was a mess, covered in camping gear and dirty clothes. Tyler smelled something strange-- was that alcohol? Bleach?

“What's going on, dude?”

“I uh, did something stupid.” Josh's voice teetered between a whisper and incoherent. Tyler turned around to look at him. Josh was in a ratty muscle tee and his boxers, with a ball cap on his head, but there was something different about him-- there was no neon yellow that usually swept across some part of his forehead or curled at the nape of his neck.

Tyler’s eyes widened. He had a pretty good idea of what had happened, but waited for Josh to tell him.

“So I tried to dye my hair black... and it was already yellow, right? So I didn't think I would need to bleach it... and well, uhm...” with another heavy sigh, Josh pulled his hat off to reveal that he had shaved his head down to the scalp, the remains of a bizarre greenish black shining under the light.

Oh no. Josh fucked up. He fucked up bad.

“It doesn't look... that bad,” Tyler replied, trying to be optimistic, but Josh laughed bitterly.

“No, it was bad, _really bad,_ so I shaved it all off. Probably better for my hair in general really, I've dyed it so much that it's practically dust. I just... I look horrible. I can't leave my house. I'm already freaking out about people seeing me, and I've spent all night panicking--”

“J, we don't have to go camping if you don't want to. It's okay, really. But you know we were going on this camping trip to get away from everyone, civilization, pollution, all the girls that love to hit on you-- no one is going to be around. It's just gonna be me and you, and I've already seen you. Really, dude, you don't look bad at all. Plus, if it makes you feel any better, I've shaved my head a billion times. I find it quite cathartic, actually. It's like a fresh start.”

Josh closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Okay. Fresh start. Fresh start. We're getting out of here, just you and me and no one else.”

“It'll grow back stronger and healthier this time. Your natural brown.”

Josh chuckled. He seemed less worried. “My natural brown. I forgot about that. It's been a long time since it's been that color.”

“See? Already a plus. Because you were so adorable with that hair color.” Tyler grinned, causing Josh to roll his eyes and a blush to rise to his cheeks.

“Okay, okay. Sorry to already put a damper on our camping experience.”

“Josh Dun, you did no such thing. Our journey into relaxation station begins right now.” Tyler tried his hand at an impression of a train, causing Josh to laugh some more.

“Okay dork, let's get the bags into your car.”

Tyler drove an SUV, which provided much more room for all the camping gear than Josh’s Volkswagen. After shoving everything into the trunk, and performing one last sweep to make sure they had everything, Josh and Tyler climbed into the car and pulled out of the parking garage. For the first few minutes of the drive, Tyler kept glancing at Josh next to him, who was fiddling with the brim of his hat. Something was up still, and Tyler was certain it wasn't just about his hair.

“Hey, bro, you doing okay?”

Josh looked up briefly before turning his gaze back out the window. Tyler pressed his lips into a thin line. Okay, so something definitely was wrong. “J-man, you know I'm not going to judge you for anything. And if you're worried about something, it could be good to get it off your chest, y’know? Like we've been doing. That's another reason we're going on this trip. If you're worried, that sort of defeats the purpose. If you don't want to talk about it, fine. I'm here if you need me.”

After a few, long seconds, Josh sighed in defeat and shifted himself towards Tyler. “I uhm, had to get my anxiety medication increased. Again.”

“Oh Josh, that's okay!”

“No, that's not what I'm worried about. That's just an _effect_ of it.” He twisted his hands together nervously. “It's this tour. We're going to be gone for like, two and a half months, and we haven't toured in over two years. I mean, we've played a couple shows here and there, but we weren't driving on the road. It's not that touring bothers me, because I love going to see other cities and meet people and experience different cultures and activities, but the last time we did tour...” He paused to take a deep breath. “I didn't... I didn't look like this. I was fat, and gross, and there's a part of me that feels like I'm going to fall back into old habits being on the road again.”

Tyler nodded, letting Josh’s worries circle through his head. “That's understandable, bro. But like, on your days off, where you aren't traveling or playing a show, you could go for a run, right?”

Josh shrugged. “I _could,_ but I'm afraid that I'll just, stop. Like, our diets on tour are absolutely terrible, and that within itself... it's just so _easy_ to stop doing all of this, y’know?”

“What makes you think you'll just... stop?”

A sigh. Josh began picking at his fingernails. They were cracked and bleeding from where he had chewed off hangnails; this was a lot serious than Tyler had originally thought. “In high school, I did a lot of stupid shit. And it got to the point where people just sorta... _expected_ me to do crazy stuff, you know? Random kids in class would dare me to do horrible things and I'd _do it_ because that's what they expected me to do. I've worked so hard to change my image, to change my life around, to earn respect from people, but this cocky, ‘I know I'm hot,’ attitude I put out... it's just a facade, because I'm still that anxious idiot from high school that did stupid stuff. When I have a family, I want them to have a good life. I want to be responsible and give them everything they need and raise them to be good people and I feel like... I feel like I won't be able to do that. Even some days when I wake up, I ask myself, why am I doing this? Why do I even bother trying to make myself look presentable? It'd be so much easier to stop trying.”

“Josh, I know this internal struggle you have going on is something most people have. You aren't alone. We're all drawn towards temptation, but I really don't think two months on a tour bus is going to ruin your entire body. You've worked hard to make sure you're healthy, and that's really awesome, but you gotta give yourself a break, get some me time. If you spend your whole life worrying about what things will be like later down the line, you'll never _do_ anything. And who knows? Maybe this camping trip will give you some time to reflect on what you want your life to be like. No one controls your life but you, bro.”

He nodded his head and reached out to gently ghost his fingers over Tyler’s knuckles. Tyler hoped Josh couldn't see the red that rose to his cheeks. “Thank you, Tyler. I'm really lucky to have you back in my life, bro.”

“I'm lucky to have you back in my life too, bro.”

 

***

When the two of them arrived at the campground, they were greeted with the sounds of nature, bugs and critters alike. Tyler pocketed his keys and took a deep breath. Yep. This would be a good trip. He could barely see the smog in the air.

Josh met him around at the trunk, his nose still buried in his phone, where he had received a long string of text messages.

“Band stuff?” Tyler asked.

“Yep. But it's not important.” He turned his phone off and shoved it in his pocket. “Relaxation station?”

Tyler grinned. “Relaxation station.”

The walk to their campground wasn't too horrible, and it provided them with plenty of serenity to clear away all bad vibes. There was no one around them either, which was another plus.

“Man versus nature,” Tyler exclaimed as he let his stuff slide off his shoulders.

“Nature has got nothing on us,” Josh replied, seeming already more like his chipper self. He reached for the tent bag and grinned ear to ear. “No way. Is this the same tent from high school?”

“The one and only. She's a trooper, let me tell you.”

“Amazing. Now let's figure out how to put this tent up.” It took them a bit of time, but finally, they had put together something that closely resembled a tent. Josh suggested they go exploring, and after dumping all their belongings inside their makeshift shelter for the night, the two headed off.

Neither one of them spoke, too intrigued by the towering trees above them. Tyler hadn't seen this much vegetation in California, like, ever.

“Bro, this is incredible.” Josh broke the silence, his smile shining bright, and it took Tyler everything he had not to say _Not as incredible as you._

“Bro, I know.”

Josh suddenly stopped in the middle of the trail and reached out to grab Tyler’s shoulders. A blush rose to Tyler’s face, which was not very surprising, as that happened on a daily basis (and more now that he was around Josh).

“We’re so far away from civilization.”

“Yeah, that was the point, right?”

He released his hands and shoved them into his pockets. “It’s beautiful. I just, I never knew all this was up here, y’know? I was so worried about coming here, and now I feel... at peace.”

“It’s a sea of tranquility,” Tyler replied, his face turning even redder when Josh agreed with him. He watched Josh take a deep breath in through his nose.

“Tyler?”

“Yeah?” Tyler cleared his throat. “Bro?”

“Thank you. For everything. This past couple of months. I really... I love the people I’m in a band with, but we don’t always get along, and we have different likes and opinions... I just, I feel like, for the first time, I have a best friend. And it’s really awesome.”

“Same!” Tyler said a little too loudly, sending a bird flapping away. He lowered his volume. “I mean, having this job, I have to be friends with the other teachers and stuff, but to me, most of them are just coworkers to me. Hanging out with you, I feel like I can just be myself. It’s really nice.”

“That’s really good to know. I’m so glad you moved here. It must have been fate pushing us together.”

“Definitely, bro.” They shared a smile and continued the rest of the hike in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence, though, it was one of serenity, one where everything that needed to be said was already being said through the whispers of the trees and the chirping of the birds. It was very nice being up here in the mountains, in the forest, with each other, and away from all the other stupid people.

Eventually, the two came to a clearing with a small creek trickling through the woods. Some parts were deep enough for rapids to swarm around large rocks and maneuver through banks. Josh’s face bore yet another grin as he bent down to let the water run over his hands.

“How’s it feel?” asked Tyler, hanging back a little ways. There was something about creeks that freaked him out a little bit. He had always seen TV shows where dead bodies had turned up or strange, bloody needles or... a gun.

“Feels really good, dude. Nice and cool.” He stood up and wiped his hands off on his pants. “Wanna go in?”

“Uhm...” Tyler stumbled over his words. “No, I uh, think I’m okay on dry land.”

“Come on bro, it isn’t like we’re surfing this time around. Just chilling in some beautiful spring water.”

That was true. There wasn’t anyone around, no pollution or anything to be spilled into the water quite yet. Still, though, Tyler wasn’t quite convinced. “No swimsuits either.”

Josh snorted. “We’re always wearing swimsuits, my dude.” And with that, Josh pulled off his shirt, revealing his rippling abs, and pulled down his joggers like nothing, leaving him in a pair of low-cut grey briefs. Crap. Tyler was staring. Josh had a nice package. And when he turned around-- oh no oh _crap_ he had an even nicer butt than Tyler had previously thought.

He turned around with a mischievous smirk plastered across his face. “Checking out my butt, bro? That’s kinda gay.”

“Nah, it’s only gay if I don’t say ‘no homo,’ bro. So, uhm... no homo.”

Josh laughed loudly. “If it means anything, you’ve got a pretty nice ass too, dude. Looks especially good when you wear tight jeans.”

Darn. Tyler was blushing again. “Oh, uhm, uh, t-thank you.” He knew he had seen Josh shirtless before, but there was something completely different about this. The air felt taunt, staticy, like the atmosphere right before a thunderstorm.

He bit his lip as he watched Josh take a few steps into the water, letting the current run over his toes, before he realized Josh was still wearing his ball cap.

“Hat,” Tyler coughed out, like an idiot. They were adults, two grown men, and Tyler was acting like a weirdo.

Josh pulled his hat off and tossed it to join the rest of his clothes. It was definitely strange not seeing his highlighter hair, but a shaved head was definitely a good look on him. “Dude, you coming in, or what?”

As Josh sank lower into the water, Tyler reluctantly began pulling his clothes off, setting them down next to Josh’s before dipping his toes into the creek. It was cold, but tolerable, so he took a few more steps forward.

And then Josh grabbed his ankle and Tyler splashed completely underwater.

He came back up with an intense, deep gasp for breath and glared playfully at Josh. His body was still adjusting to the shock of the water temperature. “Dude! What the hell!”

“You were taking too long,” Josh raised an eyebrow and stuck out his tongue. “I just want someone to swim with!”

“It’s so cold!”

“Dude! We’re from Ohio! This is nothing!” Josh grinned, and in response, Tyler splashed him. And instantly regretted it.

“I don’t think you wanna be starting something you can’t finish,” Josh said cautiously. Tyler batted his eyelashes and tried to make himself look as innocent as possible.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He took a step back and sent another small wave of water Josh’s way. That stupid eyebrow went up again. Damn, why did he have such good eyebrows? That didn't seem fair in the slightest. Come to think of it, every single part of him seemed perfect, like he had been sculpted with clay and burnt in a kiln.

“I think you do, bro. And I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into!” With a loud scream of victory, Josh reached for Tyler, lifted him out of the water, and tossed him back down like it was nothing. Tyler let himself sink into the cold water before he came back up, balancing on his tiptoes as he wiped his eyes. Josh continued smirking.

“Back for more?”

Crap. Tyler was aroused. _Very_ aroused.

Did he dare try anything? Josh was obviously way stronger than him, yet there was this playful glint in his eye that caused Tyler to want to continue messing with him, even though the term “messing with him” really meant “getting thrown into the creek over and over again.”

Tyler pretended to stand down, bending his elbow to wave an imaginary white flag. Josh grinned in response, pushing his chest forward in victory. Tyler used Josh’s distracted state to launch himself at the older man, who surprisingly did not see it coming, and the two sank under water in a mixture of tangled limbs.

When they surfaced, Josh’s hands were on Tyler’s waist, and he looked him over.

“You okay?”

“Am I okay? I’m the one who jumped on you.” Tyler pouted, disappointed that Josh wasn’t even phased by his betrayal. Damn, he really thought that “pretend to surrender” move would really work. Apparently not.

“I figured you’d try something, dork. You down for some more exploring? We can go down the creek a little bit and see what we find.”

Tyler nodded. That sounded fun. Plus, his cheeks were still red because Josh’s hands hadn’t left his waist, so there was that.

“By the way,” Josh said softly as they continued downstream, “I let you jump on me.”

Yep. Tyler’s blush wasn’t going away anytime soon.

***

Later that night, after the sun has gone down, the two got back to camp with their damp clothes in their hands.

“I’ll get a fire going,” Josh offered as he reached for the bundle of firewood they had brought with them. Tyler couldn’t stop staring. Josh was still only in his boxers, and they were set low on his hips; it didn’t help that his underwear was still wet and seemed to display every curve and crease Josh had in his... lower regions.

God. Tyler was going to die.

“We roasting some weenies?” He tried to change the subject, hoping it would help him get his mind off of Josh’s junk as he sat down in a camping chair and pulled a clean shirt over his head.

“Hell yeah, my dude. It’s not Saturday yet, but close enough, right? We can go for a hike tomorrow.”

Tyler nodded. “That sounds like a plan.”

“Sick.”

Twenty minutes later, Josh had a pretty solid fire going. He pulled a package of hot dogs out of the small cooler they had brought along and grabbed two roasting sticks off the picnic table. Tyler thanked him as he took the items and went to work skewing his dog before jamming it in the flames.

“Dude, it’s called a hot dog, not a burnt dog,” Josh commented, smiling softly as he sat down in the camping chair across from him and skewed his own dog.

Tyler scoffed. “It’s the only good way to eat it, dude.”

“Oh yeah? Lemme guess. You’re also that dude that only puts mustard on it.”

“Uhm... yeah? Ketchup on hot dogs is gross.”

Josh gasped and rested the heel of his hand over his heart in mock offense. “How dare you.”

“I said it.” Tyler blew him a kiss before pulling his hot dog out of the flames. “Hand me a bun?”

“You sure you don’t want that to catch fire either?”

“Josh Dun, shut up.”

His grin turned shit-eating. “Tyler Joseph? Make me.”

They both glared playfully at each other as they quietly prepared and ate their dinner. Tyler put extra mustard on his hot dog just to peeve Josh off.

Finally, with dinner finished and stomachs full, the two cozied up closer to the fire to talk. Josh had put a shirt on, which was a bit disappointing, but it was still very nice to be alone with him away from everyone else.

“How’s the teaching been? Your basketball kids still behaving or do I have to come kick their butts?”

“No! No, they’ve been good, actually. I think I’m likable, which is pretty cool. I’m really enjoying it.”

“Good! I’m glad you’re enjoying being out here.”

“Definitely helps to have you around again.”

It might have been just the glow of the fire, but Tyler swore Josh was blushing. “We’re super cheesy, saying this stuff over and over again, but I agree. It’s nice having you back as well.” They shared a super cheesy smile.

And then Josh asked out of the blue, “What was your last relationship?”

Tyler frowned. He stared really hard into the flames of the fire and willed himself to answer the question. “It was Jenna, actually.” No, it wasn’t. Tyler had gone on a few dates with some guys, none who had been very nice, and two had only wanted to have sex. The third just seemed very bored and ended up leaving halfway through the date, making Tyler have to pay for _both_ meals.

“Really?” Josh seemed genuinely surprised. “But you’re such a good looking guy. I don’t see how you aren’t the one with girls hanging all over you.”

Tyler blushed for probably the billionth time that day. “Well, yeah. Y’know.”

“Just waiting for the perfect someone?” It was a question, but Josh made it sound more like a comment that Tyler fully agreed with. Yeah, the perfect someone. He just needed to figure himself out a little more, that was all.

“Yes. Just waiting for that perfect someone.” They shared another smile. Josh breathed in deeply through his nose and leaned back against his chair. “What if we’ve already met that perfect someone? In life.”

Tyler swore his heart stopped. “It’s hard to tell, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Josh sat up and reached for his bag, revealing a gorgeous, big bag of marshmallows, a small box of graham crackers, and three, large Hershey’s bars. He smiled. “Up for dessert?”

“I bet I can eat more s’mores than you,” Tyler challenged, reaching over to grab a marshmallow. He stabbed the skewer through it and shoved it into the fire.

“I doubt it,” was Josh’s reply.

***

Later that night, after all that remained of the fire were dying embers and Tyler proved to be the s’more eating champion, the two climbed into their sleeping bags and prepared for sleep. Overall, it had been a really good day-- although any day with Josh was a good one.

Josh kept tossing and turning to get comfortable, where Tyler laid on his side facing away from the older man. He pulled the sleeping bag tighter around him and tried to ignore Josh’s fidgeting. It was almost one in the morning and if they were going to hike tomorrow, he would need some sleep.

Finally, Josh stopped moving. “G’night Tyler,” he said quietly. Tyler blinked, his brow furrowing, but didn’t turn around. That was weird. They had already said goodnight.

“Uhm, goodnight.”

More silence. Josh didn’t move anymore, which was a relief, but then...

Tyler turned to face the other way. And Josh also turned to face the other way.

They stared at each other, letting their eyes adjust to the darkness. Josh’s hand shifted out of his sleeping bag and found its way to Tyler’s hip. Out of surprise, Tyler jumped, causing Josh to pull away.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, starting to turn away. Tyler grabbed his wrist.

“Don’t apologize.” Josh looked up, allowing Tyler to trace his jaw with a finger. It was rough with stubble, but felt nice, calming, safe.

Josh moved his hand back to Tyler’s hip and tugged him closer. Tyler shifted in his sleeping bag, kicking it down off his body with his feet, to allow Josh access to more skin-- and more skin did Josh want. His fingers moved like they had a mind of their own, under his shirt, across his hips, tickling right down under his belly button, and Tyler was fueled with adrenaline. It was happening. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening.

When their lips touched, nothing else seemed to matter besides Josh in that moment. He could taste the marshmallows on his breath and pushed harder, begging for more, _wanting_ to become one; Josh’s lips parted with a soft gasp, and Tyler’s tongue swiped across the roof of Josh’s mouth.

“Hnngh,” Josh moaned, his hands tightening. He ground against Tyler’s crotch, and suddenly the thin layer of their boxers was enough to irritate them both.

He pulled away and swallowed loudly, still looking Tyler in the eyes. Did Josh look almost... nervous? But that didn’t seem right. Josh dealt with people flirting all the time, he must have kissed people a million and one times--

“I got feelings for you, bro,” he murmured, looking at the ground.

“Me too, bro.” Tyler’s hands tingled.

“I was right. I don’t know why I would waste looking for a relationship when that perfect someone is right here in front of me.”

Tyler’s heart thumped against his ribcage. “Funny how that works out, huh?”

A nod. Josh’s hands went back to Tyler’s waist, his mouth hovering mere inches, as he whispered, “Can I kiss you again?”

“Yep,” replied the brunette as their lips met once more, as their limbs tangled together and Josh began grinding down harder, more frequently; Tyler knew Josh was hard because he could feel him against his thigh.

He’d be lying if he said he _hadn’t_ thought about sex with Josh before, but now that it might actually happen...

Tyler pulled away and blinked a few times as he palmed himself, hoping Josh wasn’t paying too much attention-- Crap. There was a wet spot near the head of his dick. So much for being sneaky.

“You good?” Josh breathed, his hands also in not so family friendly places. Tyler nodded.

“I just, uhm, slow,” he managed to spit out. Josh reached out tentatively, trailing his fingers around the waistband of Tyler’s briefs until they were curling under the fabric.

“Can I?” Josh made it sound so casual, like he was asking if he could pay for someone’s food, not jack them off. Tyler bit his lip and nodded again.

Slowly, Josh tugged down Tyler’s boxers until he could get enough access to his cock, and without any warning, Josh was touching him, squeezing just enough to get a sound out of Tyler’s mouth.

“Shit,” Tyler huffed, letting his eyelids flutter shut. He couldn’t even remember the last time someone else had done this for him. He had been jacking himself off in the shower for months now.

Tyler was wet enough with precum that Josh’s strokes weren’t dry, but that didn’t stop the older man from spitting on his hand. Josh, that bastard, was grinning smugly as he stroked up and down Tyler’s shaft, listening to him moan and groan-- and pretty soon Tyler was lifting his hips up with every stroke, wanting, craving, more.

Josh pulled away. Tyler cursed.

“Okay, uhm... more?” Josh asked, unsure of what to do.

“More what?” Breathed Tyler, his eyes still closed. They didn’t have condoms or lube, which made sense, because neither had been expecting this to happen.

Suddenly, a great idea came to Tyler’s mind, and it took all his willpower not to rip his clothes off right away. He pulled his shirt off like a normal person and shimmied the rest of the way out of his underwear before gesturing for Josh to do the same.

“I know you’re hard,” Tyler murmured, desperate, as he reached out to help Josh pull his t-shirt off.

“Yeah, bro?”

“Don’t have to say that anymore, bro.” Tyler ran his fingers over Josh’s tanned abs and sighed happily. Okay. He could do this. This was actually happening and that was okay and he _wanted this so badly--_

Josh’s hand slid behind his neck and pulled him back down into a kiss as his other hand fumbled to push his boxers down.

“I think,” Josh’s mouth moved to Tyler’s jaw, “it’s a way to make this not feel... as weird.”

“Why, because we’re both dudes? And we were high school friends? And now we’re about to fuck in a tent?”

“Something like that,” was Josh’s reply as he lowered his body down on top of Tyler’s. A loud grunt came from the both of them, causing a few seconds to pass for them to catch their breath. Josh spoke again. “You want to do this?”

“I do,” Tyler whispered. “Do you?”

“Yes, I do. I uhm... do you think this is weird?”

“It’s not the first time I’ve thought about having sex with you,” he admitted, trying to ignore the fact that every time Josh shifted under him, the friction was enough in itself to cause a tiny orgasm. Josh chuckled, and _god_ that made things a thousand times worse.

“Okay. Okay, uhm, well, same... bro.”

“Just kiss me,” Tyler said, pulling Josh back down for a kiss. He buried his nose in the crook of Josh’s neck, breathing in his musk and the faint remains of deodorant as Josh once more ground down against him. He tore more sounds out of Tyler’s ever-growing ripped throat as their dicks touched. Tyler scratched at Josh’s sternum with his short, bitten nails in a desperate plea for more.

The heat in the tent seemed to grow more intense as they continued their grunts and groans; the gleam of sweat across Josh’s chest was making it harder for Tyler to avoid coming right here and now.

Josh’s hands returned to Tyler’s shoulders and he stopped moving to catch his breath. “Slower.”

“Slower,” Tyler nodded. He pointed to their currently sandwiched dicks. “You want me to--”

“Oh, no, I can--”

“Seriously, bro--” It felt weird saying that, especially now, considering the current situation they were both in, but it seemed to make Josh feel a bit more comfortable, enough for him to shift one hand from Tyler’s shoulder to stroke both their cocks. Tyler shook, overcome with pleasure, and he let his head loll back. Josh made a number of low, grizzly sounds, his hand picking up speed, and almost as if it was fate, they hit their climax together, taking a few long minutes afterward to snap out of that haze.

Josh was the first to talk as he flopped back down on his sleeping bag stained with come. “Well, I will admit, I’ve never had sex in a tent before.”

“I can’t say that I have either,” admitted Tyler as he squeezed Josh’s thigh lovingly. He hoped it was okay-- and it was, by the look Josh gave him. The older man effortlessly pulled Tyler closer to him and nuzzled his face in the crook of Tyler’s neck.

“I love getting to make new memories with you, bro,” he whispered, “you mean the world to me.”

“Fate gets a kick out of coincidences.”

“That she does, that she does.”

“Does this mean I can change my Facebook status to ‘complicated?’”

Josh barked out a laugh. “I think you can change it to in a relationship.”

“Sweet.” Tyler cocked his head just enough to press another kiss to Josh’s lips. “You mean the world to me too, bro.”

They slept peacefully that night. For the first time in a long time, Tyler wasn’t afraid of the future, because, with Josh at his side, he knew he’d be ready for anything.

(Oh, and they didn't go hiking. Josh assured Tyler they had worked out enough that day.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know I'm bringing up Josh's shaved head again. I love it, okay?
> 
> Also afterwards the two become an item and it's adorable and fantastic. Tyler starts playing and doing music again and sings with the choir on "teacher appreciation" nights. Josh shows up to those too.

**Author's Note:**

> pastelxmess on tumblr. come talk to me


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